Strategies for Reducing Binge Eating
Did you know Binge Eating Disorder is the most common eating disorder in Australia, with 6% of the population meeting criteria, with the average age of onset being 25 years old? (Eating Disorders Victoria).
A binge often involves eating rapidly, eating until you feel uncomfortably full, eating a large amount of food when not physically hungry and eating alone due to embarrassment or shame.
Here are four strategies for overcoming binge eating:
Be a detective:
Notice what happens just before you binge. Is it that you have restricted and so therefore your mind is fixated on food? Is it that you felt discomfort of some sort, be it boredom, emptiness, loneliness or anger? Often binge eating is a way to regulate our emotions, and people sometimes describe feeling like they are in a trace when binging.
Eat with the clock:
Regular eating involves 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2-3 snacks. If you eat regularly there should never been more than 3 hours between eating. This helps to reduce bingeing, as you don’t have to face large meals, the gap between meals is manageable, it reduces the need to binge or fear that you may lose control. It also improves mood and decreases fatigue. If you eat regular meals you’re less likely to overeat due to hunger because you’re meeting your body’s physical needs.
Be mindful of portion size:
If you feel you have lost the sense of what a normal portion size is, think about what you would serve a friend if they came over for lunch.
If you struggle with portions, make sure that you do not eat things out of the packet (e.g. put chips into a bowl, and then if you want more go up and put more in the bowl). Whilst you are working on your eating habits, don’t eat whilst you do something else (e.g. watching TV, scrolling on your phone). Be mindful of what you are eating by eating at the table with no distractions.
Learn to tolerate boredom or discomfort:
This is something a psychologist can help you with, but it’s important to learn to tolerate discomfort and seek out other ways of regulating your mood. This could be through doing something incompatible with binging when you would normally binge (e.g. having a shower, calling a friend on a walk) or using the five senses to distract yourself (e.g. watching a good movie whilst in a cosy rug on the sofa with your favourite tea).
Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders-a-z/eating-disorder-statistics-and-key-research/